


Puppy

by Salmaka



Category: Mars: War Logs, The Technomancer (Video Game)
Genre: #LetOrionSmileMore, Dogs, First Meetings, Fluff, Fluff Involving Hounds, Gen, Love at First Sight, Timeline What Timeline, Usage of Head Canon(s), What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-03-17 12:37:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18965389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salmaka/pseuds/Salmaka
Summary: What if Cassiopea's previous master was someone we know





	Puppy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WahlBuilder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WahlBuilder/gifts).



> This was born from a silly little headcanon I came up with which (of course) took over my brain so I had to write it down properly.
> 
> aka yet _another_ fic completely about my OC(s) ~~I can't be stopped!~~

A little puppy was running through the narrow street, exploring the world around her. Curious about everything. It was almost a miracle that no one had not stepped on her yet.

She has never seen so many people, never heard these many noises and sounds… She never was in Noctis or any bigger city before. She was sniffing all that she found and sometimes stopped by some Noctian standing nearby only to happily ran away when someone tried to pet her. This all was new to her and the Auroran head-hunter, her current master, let her explore.

Though, puppy’s mother was keeping her sharp eyes on the little one and sometimes called her back to them. However, once not even her calls brought her back to the hunter’s side. The sound coming from the adult hound started to sound almost frustrated. Mother looked up for permission to go find her puppy or for some other order from her master.

The Auroran patted her back and looked around. It was middle of the day and the street was filled with people and merchants’ stalls. However, his height gave him the advantage to look through the crowd around him.

Noctis was so much more colourful than Shadowlair could ever be. Not that hunter’s city wasn’t colourful; just in a more subtle way. One had to look for it. Every Noctian wore something different and of a different colour. The gentle wind was playing with the fabric of their robes. Some of the high noon Sun that reached down the canyon was reflecting off the jewellery they wore. It sounded that everyone spoke a different language, but they still understood each other just fine. The air was filled with the scent of spices, food and various perfumes.

Ignoring all distractions, the Auroran started searching the crowd for the little one. Looking for someone was his job, after all.

His eyes landed on the man standing near one of the stalls. The crowd was somehow making a small space around him, so he looked like an island in the middle of all the Noctians. Some greeted him and he simply nodded. This dark-haired man was looking at the merchandise but sometimes rose his head as if he was waiting or looking for someone. He wore a dark grey open coat with a simple pattern on it.

Anything about him was largely different from everyone around him, he even seemed more subtle, but he still somehow stood out.

The puppy was standing by his legs, making an attempt of barking. One would say that the noises she made were adorable. Her short tail was wagging from side to side with such force her whole body was moving with it.

“Ciao beła,” the man said when he looked at the pup at last. A frown vanished and his whole face had lightened up.

As the hunter was making his way closer, the little one ‘barked’ again and the man crouched down to pet her. She immediately laid down on her back, demanding belly rubs. However, man’s attention was shorter than she wanted and when he started to stand up again, the pup tried to hold him down with her short claws. With a low chuckle, the Noctian took the puppy into his arms and before the head-hunter had a chance to warn him that hounds’ pups could be quite heavy, the other man picked her up no problem. The thin arms of his were much stronger than he thought they were. As soon as the man and the puppy were face-to-face, she started to lick his face.

“Here you are. I was looking for you, little one,” the hunter said when he was standing in front of the duo. The man’s dark eyes shot up to meet his and the frown was back. And it was one mean frown. It reminded him of someone he knew. The dark circles under man’s eyes indicated he hasn’t slept well. And did he just growl? “Was talking to the pup, not you, pal.”

The frown was still there, unchanged and not even the energetic puppy in his tattooed arms was able to soften its effect. It looked like the man wasn’t much of a people kind of guy. He looked at the hunter, then down at the adult hound and the puppy. “I guess she’s yours, then?”

The Auroran had to give the man some extra credit for recognizing the puppy was ‘she’. Few people knew or were able to notice the differences. He had to be around hounds before, then.

“Yes, though she has a mind of her own. As her mother has,” the hunter said and patted the hound again. She seemed calm again and sniffed at the Noctian. “Sorry if she’s bothering you, pal.”

“Nessun problema. She’s… adorable, actually.” As if the pup understood, she licked man’s face once again. “Beła, stop it,” the Noctian commanded with a sharp tone, again mixing more languages with no problem whatsoever.

The puppy looked at him and tilted her head to the side as if in question. Her small black pearl-like eyes focused on the man who was looking at her with the same intensity. The puppy was about to lick him again, but the man simply raised his finger and she aborted the idea. However, when he let her, the puppy happily attacked man’s face with her quite sharp tongue again.

It was normal that the hound got attached to someone. More than one person, too. Though, they were quite picky about whom they will be imprinted with. It was how they created their pack. Sometimes the hound refused their new master just because they didn’t like them. The shrimp hound was able to remember ‘their’ person their whole life. And such a relationship was created more easily when the hound was still a puppy.

And now it seemed like the little one found herself a new life-long friend.

“She really likes you,” the head-hunter smiled.

“That’s unusual,” the man chuckled and gave the puppy an order to stop. And she obeyed.

The head-hunter whistled, impressed. “Nice. I had a hard time to teach her some commands. She’s as stubborn as R—” the hunter didn’t finish and cleared his throat. This was the second time today he remembered _him_. The man in front of him didn’t seem to be bothered by his unfinished sentence and he was kind of grateful for it.

“I’m used to working with stubborn people. You simply need to know what works on them and don’t make a single step back. I see this works on the dogs, too. Or at least on this one.” There was the tiniest of smiles on man’s lips when he petted the puppy again.

The Auroran had a feeling that the man was holding back with his smiles and laughs. Even over the obvious joy the puppy was bringing him, he kept a pretty serious face. However, his eyes were kind of betraying him in this. They were all happy and sparkling. Maybe he just wasn’t used to smiling or really didn’t want to? One way or another it wasn’t hunter’s place to pray.

“Hmm, sounds like a hardship. What’s your job?”

“Being one of the pillars making sure this city runs smoothly,” the Noctian said with almost a smirk. Said it as if it was the most obvious and at the same time mundane fact. He was showing off.

“Well, aren’t you just full of yourself, pal.”

The dark-haired man shrugged. “Not if it’s true.”

It looked like the other man was quite arrogant. But nobody is perfect, and everybody has their flaws. The world itself isn’t perfect so why should people be? The hunter had a share of them himself. And that’s why one must focus on the good in people. So, the main thing right now was how happy they both looked. They made quite a duo…

It gave the head-hunter an idea.

“You know… I already have the hound, the little one ’ll need the new master and I guess I won’t find anyone anytime soon…”

The man looked at him, surprise written all over his face. “Are you—”

“I don’t see why not,” the hunter interrupted him, “She likes you and you look like you can get a good take of her. You were around hounds before, ain’t ya?”

The man was taken aback by the sudden question. “Sì. Our caravan had the hunter with us for a few seasons. Though,” the Noctian looked down at puppy’s mother, “her hounds were smaller. Jez let me help her take care of them.”

“See, you know your ways around. And she listens to you, so training her should not be a problem.”

“I…”, the man started and looked at the puppy who was wagging her tail like crazy again. With the ghost of the smile back on his lips, the Noctian bowed a little. “I’d be honoured to take her. Grassie!”

The hunter wanted to pat the man on the shoulder but made up his mind, sensing he wouldn’t like it much. It would probably earn him another growl. “You’re welcome, pal.”

“Do you hear it, Cass? You are coming with me,” the Noctian said and caressed her head. The puppy made a happy sound and nuzzled his chest.

“Cass? As short for Cassidy?”

“No – Cassiopea.” Man’s accent was stronger when he said the puppy’s new name.

“Oh. Are you into constellations and such?”

The man almost smiled, “You could say that.”

Cassiopea’s mother made a low sound, nothing more than to draw attention to her. She seemed fine with all this. This wasn’t the first puppy she had to say her good-bye to, after all, she knew how it goes. All she was asking, for now, was to say a proper good-bye. The Noctian looked at her and put the puppy down. Mother sniffed the pup, licked her and nuzzled her petite form. Her whole body was as if vibrating with the low but deep sound she was making. Cass made some sounds of her own, but these were much quieter and more squeaky-like. They stayed like this for a while until mother nudged the puppy towards her new master. Cassiopea eyes were jumping from her to him and she started wagging her little tail. The adult hound nudged her again and the little one licked her one last time before going to man’s side.

All was done, the puppy had a new master. Approved even by her mother.

The hunter didn’t know this man for more than a handful of minutes, didn’t even know his name but he still was sure about his decision. He recognized loner when he saw one and this man will definitely use at least some company. They will have a good influence on each other.

Suddenly, the Noctian narrowed his eyes but not at the hunter but on something or rather someone behind him. The mean frown was back. With an apology, the man quite literally stormed past the hunter towards someone in the crowd, with Cass tailing him. When his ‘victim’ noticed him, they almost panicked and froze in place. It seemed they knew better than to run away.

The Auroran had to blink a few times because the scene in front of him was quite confusing for his eyes and brain. Cassiopea’s new master wasn’t the tallest of people, but he still was somehow towering over the other Noctian. He had this strange aura around him.

The hunter was ready for the man to start shouting, all was indicating towards this, but no. He simply went closer and started talking to the other with normal volume. Maybe even quieter and this had a strangely bigger effect. The head-hunter didn’t need to know the language the other spoke in to recognize the half of it were swearwords.

This whole scene got even better when Cassiopea made an adorable sound and the dark-haired man bent down to pick her up. Him holding the small puppy in his tattooed hands added almost comedic undertone to all this.

Knowing there was nothing more for him, the Auroran turned around and continued towards his own tasks that brought him into this city in the first place.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope I captured Tenacity well...
> 
> Thank you for reading! And also thank you for potential kudos or comment! I'm bad at replying but I really appreciate it. <3


End file.
